CCC student Bonnie Kelch, with the help of the Coconino Association for Vocations, Industry and Technology, earned nearly 40 college credits before she left high school. Courtesy photo.
FLAGSTAFF — Flagstaff High School graduate Bonnie Kelch left high school with job skills and college credit.
She took advantage of free college courses at CCC with the help of the Coconino Association for Vocations, Industry and Technology and is already a Certified Nursing Assistant, and she also has a certification in Pre-Health Careers.
“I always thought I wanted to be a nurse, and this gave me the opportunity to see what it’s about before I committed to it in college,” Kelch said. “I like that it’s a job where I’m actually helping people. I feel like I can make a difference in people’s lives.”
She added, “I want to have a career I enjoy and not one I dread. I want to be excited about going to work.”
By taking college courses at CCC, she is already 37 credit hours toward a bachelor’s degree in Nursing that she seeks.
“It’s definitely not easy, but it’s very rewarding,” Kelch said, adding that the courses were available to her for free and will bring down the total cost of her college tuition over the course of her educational journey. Her mother encouraged her to try college while she was still in high school.
“It was free college,” Kelch said. “It was too good of an opportunity to pass up. I was willing to do it because I was enabled to keep doing what I enjoy doing and attend college.”
When she’s not going to school, Kelch dances and participates in gymnastics.
“I like to be busy,” she said, smiling.
Her ultimate goal is to be a neo-natal nurse. When she was 11 years old, she spent time in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit because a niece had been born prematurely. The nurses on the unit were so caring and so nice, Kelch said.
She also said that she isn’t certain of her educational path after her bachelor’s degree. She may go for a master’s degree. She may stay and work locally as a nurse.
“The future and the prospects seem so open,” she said.
For more information about CCC’s high school programs, visit https://www.coconino.edu/hs2ccc .